Why does Woodward want to Transform Rockford? Gallup knows

According to a Gallup poll conducted throughout 2013, residents in Rockford are the least satisfied in the U.S. with their city and its direction.

Gallup surveyed at least 300 adults aged 18 and older in 189 metropolitan areas last year and just 72.8 percent of those surveyed in Boone and Winnebago counties were satisfied with where they live.

Gallup has been conducting the survey since 2008 and this year seven metropolitan areas were below 75 percent. Those included metro areas such as Flint, Mich., and Jackson, Miss.

The survey likely is not a surprise considering the business-led effort Transform Rockford has been drawing packed houses all across the area in a movement to make Rockford one of the best places to live in by 2025.

The company that got the Transform Rockford ball rolling was Woodward Inc. Woodward was started in Rockford in 1870 and still employs more than 1,400 people here. The company's headquarters though now is in Fort Collins, Colo.

By a weird coincidence, residents of Fort Collins and Loveland, Colo., are the MOST satisfied in the U.S. with where they live. In Gallup's survey, 94.9 percent were satisfied, beating out places such as Provo, Utah, Madison, Wis. and Honolulu. It's the third time Fort Collins has topped this particular survey.